Then
by JustGoingWithTheWind
Summary: Lorne's memories, from first meeting Marcie, to- Well you'll find out. Inspired by Brad Paisley's song Then. One charry in memory of a family friend.


**Then- Songfic**

**Inspiration- Brad Paisley's song Then.**

**Summary- A one-shot of Lorne's memories of his and Marcie's relationship.**

**A/N- **

**Pairing- Lorne/Marcie (OC/OC)**

He remembered the first time he met her. It was at Camp Halfblood. They were eleven.

_Lorne stood awkwardly at the edge of the Archery Range. He was unsure what to do, and a little bit scared and slightly embarrassed to ask. A girl with bright green eyes, and dirty blonde hair, with a few green streaks, walked over to him. She was about his age._

_"Hi," she said. "I'm Marcie Webber, daughter of Apollo."_

_"Lorne Benson. And I'm not yet claimed," he replied, a light pink tinge on his cheeks._

_Marcie smiled. "You look like you need help."_

_He nodded slightly. She geustured with her head. "Follow me." And he thought he liked her a lot then._

And now she was a lot more. She was the mostimportant thing to him. She understood him. She wasn't afraid of his werewolf problem- even though, because of him mother, Hecate, he had full control on full moon, but he was always afraid. She was nice,caring, sweet, a little violent, and had a rough streak through her.

He remembered the time he realized he loved her.

_It was a few summers later, they were fourteen. She had grown out her hair, started wearing makeup, and no longer had the green in her hair- it was now a dark purple. He asked her about it once._

_"I like being different, not like everyone else. So I dye my hair," she had replied._

Being different_, he thought. _That's what I love most about her. She's not afraid to be different.

_That was the first time he thought that. That he loved her._

He can't believe he thought he loved her then. Now, he loved her. A lot more.

And the first time he kissed her.

_They were sitting on a hill over looking the camp later that summer. He looked over at her, hair up in a ponytail, reading a Greek book that sat on her lap, frowning at the pages every few minutes._

_"Marcie?" he asked._

_"Yeah?" she replied, looking up from the pages. They were sitting right next to each other, she was practically leaning on his arm. He could see the few freckles that ditted her nose._

_"I'm pretty sure I heared the lunch horn." She nodded. He stood up, and offered his hand to her, and she took it. He pulled her to her feet, which resulted in them standing _very_ close. He was about two inches taller than her, so he had to look down slightly, and she up. Slowly, giving her time to pull away, he closed the gap between them, kissing her. Her eyes shut. The kiss was soft, gentle. And he thought he loved her then._

He could hardly believe that was the two of them.

The first day of school, when he found out she was going to Sunnydale High.

_"Marcie?" he murmured, not believing his eyes, when he saw the girl in the orange, yellow, and white floral skirt and yellow blouse, who looked exactly like her. The thing was, Marcie lived in Florida, not Sunnydale._

_The blonde smiled, and walked to him. "Surprised to see me, love?"_

_It _was _Marcie. "How are you here?" he asked._

_"Is seeing me not a happy thing?" she replied with a question._

_"No, it's great. But I'm confused."_

_"Mom wanted a change, so she applied for a lot of different jobs at a lot of schools." Her mom was a high school teacher, usually classes like Drama, Band, Chior, and the like. "And she got one in Sunnydale."_

_"Why didn't you mention it to me?"_

_"As soon as I got home from camp, it was time to pack- I had no clue."_

_He smiled, and pulled her into his arms. "I'm glad you're here." She looked up at him, and kissed him. And he thought he loved her then._

He smiled at the memory.

Speaking the words outloud for the first time.

_They were sitting on a bench in the park, his arm around her shoulders, her head resting on his shoulder. She was watching a family of four play together._

_"Marcie," he murmured._

_"Yeah, Lorne?" she asked, moving her head to look at his face._

_"I love you." It was easier to say than he thought it would be._

_She smiled. "I love you too." He bent his head down and kissed her. And he thought he loved her then._

He heard a small cry from down the hall, and got up, and walked to the room.

He thought back to the proposal.

_They were both in their apartment, Marcie in the kitchen, Lorne in the doorway, watching her. There was a smile on his face, as he listened to her singing as she moved around the small kitchen, baking cookies._

_The small black box in the pocket felt heavy. He had been carrying it around for days. He wanted everything to be perfect._

_Marcie looked up at him, and stopped singing, but smiled. "What's up?" she asked, pouring two cups of flour into a bowl._

_Lorne shrugged, entering the room, and wrapping his arm around his girlfriend, and hopefully soon-to-be-fiancee. "Why'd ya stop?" he asked._

_"Stop what?"_

_"Singing."_

_She laughed quietly. "You distracted me."_

_He chuckled. "Is that so?"_

_She nodded. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She pulled out of his arms, and resumed to measuring. He sat down on a chair, watching her mix the ingredients. When she had finished, and went to the cupboard to grab a cookie sheet, he swiped his finger in the bowl._

_"Lorne!" she complained, seeing him. He grinned, eating the cookie dough. She rolled her eyes, setting the sheet on the table._

_Lorne helped her put the dough on the sheet, and then he put the sheet in the oven, and set the timer. He turned back to look at Marcie, but the kitchen was empty. "Marcie?" he called out._

_He heard laughter from the living room. "In here, love," he heard her reply. He walked through the doorway, aand saw her laying down on the couch. "I'm so ready for a nap."_

_Lorne smiled. "Is that so?" He sat down on the edge of the couch, beside her._

_"Mmhmm. Nap." Lorne brushed her hair from her face, and she opened one eye._

_He took a deep breath, and decided _now or never. _He got off the sofa, and went down on one knee. Marcie sat up as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out the box, and took her hand in his own. __"Marcie Lorraine Webber, will you give me the pleasure of becoming my wife?"_

_Marcie opened her mouth slightly, but no noise came out. Her eyes searched Lorne's, makimg sure this was not a joke. Then she threw up arms around him, and kissed him. She pulled away, and nodded. "Y-yes. Yes, Lorne. I'll marry you." He grinned, and slipped the ring on her finger._

Lorne's smile widened as he reached the doorway. He slowly opened the door, and walked over to the small crib. He lifted the small crying form. "Hey, shhh," he whispered in the infant's ear. "It's alright."

He remembered the wedding day.

_He was nervous. Very nervous. _What if she changed her mind? _he wondered. _No. She wouldn't.

_It was time. He went to stand at the end of the isle. In a few minutes, Marcie's youngest sister, who was claimed at least, Lara Nelson, who was ten, came down the isle as the flower girl. After came the ring bearer, then Willow, who was Maid-of-Honour. Finally, it was her turn._

_She was beautiful. From the off-white dres, to her hair, to her smile. He loved her._

_"Do you, Marcie Lorraine Webber, take this man, Lorne Andrew Benson, to be your husband, according to God's holy decree; do you promise to be to him a loving and loyal wife, to cherish and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to him as long as you both shall live?"_

_Then, Marcie replied, "I do."_

_Do you, Lorne Andrew Benson take this woman, Marcie Lorraine Webber, to be your wife, according to God's holy decree; do you promise to be to her a loving and loyal husband, to cherish and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to her as long as you both shall live?_

_"I do."_

The baby stopped crying. "There you go sweetheart, were you just lonely?"

He thought back to first finding out about her.

_She walked through the door after work, still in her scrubs (she was a nurse at the local hospital) and walked to the couch where he sat. "Lorne?"_

_"Yeah, Marc?" _

_She sat down softly on the couch. She looked nervous, unsure of what to say._

_"Come on Marcie, let it out."_

_Marcie looked up, meeting his eyes. "Lorne... We're gonna have a baby."_

_Lorne's eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face, and his arms pulled her close. He kissed her. "You're sure? You're not joking?"_

_"Yeah, I'm joking about us having another member of our family," she said sarcastically._

_He grinned, and put on of his hands n her still-flat stomach. "This is great."_

_Marcie nodded. "I know."_

He smiled down at the infant. "You enjoy waking up in the middle of the night?" The baby smiled.

He thought back to first holding her.

_His hand hurt, from when Marcie had gripped it, digging her nails into his skin. But the doctor's words made the pain disappear. "Congratulations you two. You have a healthy baby girl." He placed the new born into Marcie's arms._

_The baby was adorable, with Lorne's dark hair, and most of Marcie's facial features._

_"What should we call her?" Lorne asked._

_"Dora?"_

_"What about Isadora?" Lorne asked._

_"Isadora..." Marcie murmured. "It's perfect."_

_"Isadora Josephine Benson."_

_"Josephine?" Marcie asked._

_"After your mom," he explained._

_Marcie looked at him, and nodded. She moved over a little so Lorne could sit down next to her. Lorne did so. "Put your arms out," she said._

_When he did, she gently placed Isadora in his arms. He smiled down at the sleeping baby. It was hard for him to believe this was _his_ daughter. She was half him._

Lorne walked down the hall with his daughter, and opened another door. He sat down on the bed, then laid down.

"Let me sleep," a voice groaned from the other side.

"Sorry," Lorne said, but didn't recieve an answer.

Lorne laid there, with Isadora in his arms, until he slowly drifting to sleep.

And he thought he loved them then.

**A-N- Isadora, in memory of Bobbie. Her first birthday would have been coming up in about a month and a half. She died when she was six months, and a day old.**


End file.
